Musical gets big B.O. bump despite bad notices

'Ghost' posts biggest jump in sales

Judging from Week 48’s (April 23-29) box office, “Ghost” may not be as dead as it seemed.

The musical ($667,994) posted the frame’s biggest jump in sales, but it’s an ambiguously upbeat sign of life. On the one hand, the show played a full week of eight performances for the first time after a string of seven-perf sessions, so a boost is to be expected. On the other, one of those performances was the show’s comped opening night, which in box office terms is akin to playing a seven-perf week anyway.

In any event, it’s a notable step up for the show in a week that kicked off with largely vicious reviews following its April 23 opening. In the coming weeks, legiters will be keeping an eye out for further improvements that would indicate the musical can overcome those damning notices after all.

In a more clear-cut indicator of strength, “Clybourne Park” ($373,230) jumped by 32% from the previous frame, fueled by strong press in the wake of its April 19 opening. And even though another well-reviewed play, “The Lyons” ($198,432), came in under the $200,000 mark, it nonetheless spiked by some 53% despite its own comped opening April 23.

The Rialto was deluged by the usual dips that go along with a frame that accommodates press nights and openings.

The Broadway cume came in at $26.1 million for the 39 shows on the boards, up just $200,000. Attendance was down, just barely, to 296,353.

The 24 musicals grossed $20,058,022 for 76.9% of the Broadway total, with attendance of 215,041 and an average paid admission of $93.28.

The 15 plays grossed $6,026,388 for 23.1% of the Broadway total, with attendance of 81,312 and an average paid admission of $74.11.